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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: branch · tube · clip · squash · track · shower · jam · bulb

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. clip — for paper
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. track — to keep track
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. clip — a video
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. shower — rain
  16. bulb — for light
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. track — a song
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. tube — a container
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bulb — for light
  24. track — a path

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com